Italy cel­e­brates cui­sine with China-wide fes­tiv­i­ties

The Ital­ian em­bassy and sev­eral part­ners have or­ga­nized what is in­tended to be an an­nual Ital­ian Food Week across China, with a series of din­ing, films and re­lated cul­tural events through Nov 29. Lo­ca­tions in­clude restau­rants and other venues in Bei­jing, Shang­hai, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Xi’an. A broad spec­trum of events will fea­ture wine and bal­samic vine­gar tast­ings, din­ners, movie nights and sem­i­nars on wine and food.

The pro­gram wraps up with pre­sen­ta­tions at the Guangzhou In­ter­na­tional G as­tron­omy Fes­ti­val from Nov 27 to Dec 5.

The ini­tia­tive for the events was launched in March, says Et­tore Francesco Se­qui, Italy’s am­bas­sador to China, cit­ing “the pri­or­i­ties of Expo Mi­lano 2015: qual­ity, sus­tain­abil­ity, cul­ture, food se­cu­rity, right to food, ed­u­ca­tion, iden­tity, ter­ri­tory, bio­di­ver­sity.” Cui­sine is cul­ture, Se­qui says. “The Ital­ian kitchen and its typ­i­cal food prod­ucts are in fact part of the cul­ture of our coun­try and speak of Italy to mil­lions of peo­ple around the world,” he says. “But there’s more. China and Italy are also united by the value at­trib­uted to con­vivi­al­ity, to eat to­gether to meet and share mo­ments and emo­tions, with fam­ily and with friends.”